Originally Posted by
DaveLeeNC
Having a 'button to push' on the sensor to make it send 'additional pairing info' would not be surprising. But do any Ant+ sensors work that way? I have only seen one (Bontrager Speed/Cadence pair of sensors) and there is no button. So I assume that, much like the Netgear router in my house, anytime the sensor is actively sending data it is also sending the required pairing data.
dave
"Pairing" is a bit of a confusing term.
The sensors send out packets of data.
Each packet includes a number that uniquely identifies the sensor.
The sensor doesn't care what is listening to it or that it's being listend to at all.
That is, there's nothing special that the sensor needs to do when paring.
It's the head unit that does all the work.
Basically, "pairing" is the process by which the head unit knows which sensors (
by their identification number) to pay attention to.
The only type of sensor that would need to have a button is one where the communication was two-way. (The fact that the bicycle sensors don't have a button is an indication that the communication is one way.)
Note that Bluetooth devices are often two way. For two-way communication, both devices need to be put into a "pairing" mode so that both can determine which other devices to pay attention to.
The ANT devices are not usually two-way but, since two-way is possible, the same "pairing" term is used.